Movies.

Adam Sandler's Kinder, Gentler In `Wedding'

Adam Sandler comes from the look-at-me school of comedic acting. Always accomp-anying his jokes, put-downs, silly voices, exaggerated facial expressions and overgrown-child antics is a sense that he's mighty pleased with himself.

In "The Wedding Singer" he tones down the obnoxious act to try to find a real character. As Robbie, a kindly suburban crooner who suffers a romantic crisis when his fiancee strands him at the altar, Sandler mutters in an itty-bitty voice and boasts a mane of vintage 1985 hair that begs to be ruffled like a pony's.

Plus, he eventually courts a quite-adorable Drew Barrymore as Julia, a sweet banquet waitress who, in a change for the actress, is a character who can credibly wear white at a wedding. These two spend the bulk of this romantic comedy showing how lovable they can be, and you really, truly, genuinely want them to be together.

The question is: Is this the Sandler you want? Those who often want to wring his neck might answer yes. His boosters, however, may miss the anarchic energy that can provoke bursts of guilty laughter.

The new movie's trailers already have advertised Sandler's biggest eruptions here: He blows up at his ex-fiancee over her timing in scuttling the wedding, a la Joan Cusack in "In & Out"; and in his post-breakup funk, he threatens to wrap a microphone cord around the neck of a wedding attendee who heckles him.

But basically Sandler is playing the quintessential nice wooing guy in the most common of romantic comedy plots: likable lad lures lovable lady from her loser lover. Julia is engaged to an insensitive, skirt-chasing pig named Glenn (Matthew Glave), who finally proposed to her because he figured she'd "paid her dues" in waiting for him.

But she clearly prefers Robbie from the moment she sees him playing peacemaker at an alcohol-saturated wedding. She enlists him to help her plan her wedding, because Glenn, who would rather just get hitched in Las Vegas, has left all the details to her.

"The Wedding Singer" gets much mileage out of its 1985 setting, though the notion that the period already is ripe for nostalgic humor is a bit scary. The movie spoofs the mid-'80s big hair, cheesy synth music and fashions; Robbie's blue-collar brother Sammy (Allen Covert) gets laughs trying to look studly in a Michael Jackson-style jacket and glove, while Julia's pal Holly (Christine Taylor) prefers the Madonna look.

Some of the humor works, such as a Boy George lookalike in Robbie's band who repeatedly pouts his way through "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me." But director Frank Coraci and writer Tim Herlihy (who co-wrote Sandler's "Billy Madison" and "Happy Gilmore") fall into the lazy trap of letting the pop-culture references and hit-laden soundtrack substitute for actual wit.

Also, the flat direction from Coraci, a frequent collaborator of Sandler's since their days together at New York University, dulls the impact of would-be show-stoppers like Robbie's turn as a bar mitzvah singer. The movie jumps from scene to scene with little rhythm, and after a while the action just lags.

Part of the problem is that the standard romantic comedy plot takes only about an hour to resolve. In so many of these movies, when the couple is finally ready to get together, the filmmakers must contrive another set of obstacles and stupid misunderstandings to pad out the final half-hour. Seeing a supposed renegade like Sandler conforming to these movie cliches is depressing.

Yet, with a few exceptions, "The Wedding Singer" maintains such a genial tone that it's easy to take. Sandler is quite likable when he's not trying to show how funny he is all the time, and he doesn't condescend in his portrayal of a wussy-voiced guy who wanted to be a rock star but has settled into fronting a wedding band.

Barrymore, meanwhile, pours her heart into what could have been a generic role, and she's irresistible. Photographed less than glamorously, she comes across as natural, down-to-earth and charming. Her surprised yet sympathetic reaction to being groped by a tubby boy on the dance floor is priceless.

Also funny are Steve Buscemi, in an unbilled cameo as a groom's no-good brother who takes command of the microphone and guitar, and a certain faded '80s rock star who plays himself in the movie's airborne finale.

Yes, "The Wedding Singer" is the kind of movie that features the hero chasing the woman onto a plane at the end. Like Robbie, it does a journeyman's job well but lacks the ambition to reach the big time.

``THE WEDDING SINGER''

(star) (star) 1/2

Directed by Frank Coraci; written by Tim Herlihy; photographed by Tim Suhrstedt; edited by Tom Lewis; production designed by Perry Andelin Blake; music by Teddy Castellucci; produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. A New Line Cinema release; opens Friday. Running time: 1:36. MPAA rating: PG-13. Language.